Robert Kahn

Biography

Robert Kahn in Geneva, May 2013

Robert Elliot "Bob" Kahn is an American engineer mostly known as the co-inventor, along with Vint Cerf, of the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol. He was a precoious child, completing his high school degree in three years¹. He later completed his Bachelor degree in Electronical Engineering at City College of New York. Furthermore, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in 1962 and 1964 respectively.

DARPA

Kahn started working at ARPA in 1972 and afterwards became the director of DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). In the fall of 1972, he presented the ARPANET at the International Computer Communication Conference connecting more than 20 different computers together. In the spring of 1973, Kahn asked a young Vint Cerf to help him developing the next protocol generation for the ARPANET.

Awards

Robert Kahn has been awarded with several times during his career.

1. SIGCOMM Award for "visionary technical contributions and leadership in the development of information systems technology"
2. IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal
3. Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for being one of the five Internet and Web pioneers.
4. Presidential Medal Of Freedom along with Vint Cerf